Events

IST-Africa (Regional Impact of Information Society Technologies in Africa) 2010 - 2011 is a collaborative Initiative between IIMC (Ireland, Coordinator), Department of Science and Technology (South Africa), Ministry of Communications, Science and Technology (Botswana), Ministry of Communications, Science and Technology (Lesotho), Ministry of Education (Namibia), ICT Policy Implementation Technical Unit (Mozambique), National Computer Board (Mauritius), COSTECH - Tanzania Commission for Science and Technology, Uganda National Council for Science and Technology, Ministry of Higher Education, Science and Technology (Kenya), Ministere de l'Enseignement Superieur et de la Recherche Scientifique (Burundi), Ministry in President's Office in charge of Information and Communication Technology (Rwanda), Agence Nationale des Technologies de l'Information et de la Communication (Cameroon), Ministère de la Recherche Scientifique (Senegal) and Ministry of Communications and Information Technology (Egypt). IST-Africa 2010 - 2011 is supported by the European Commission under Framework Programme 7 (FP7).

During 2009 - 2011, IST-Africa is focused on supporting the Implementation of 8th Africa-EU Partnership on Science, Information Society & Space; strengthening the research dimension of Information Society policy dialogues between the European Commission and African countries and key regional organisations; analysis of African ICT policy and research priorities, including long term perspectives aligned with EU priorities and recommendations for future Africa - EU co-operation initiatives, including identification of matching counterpart funding and raising wider awareness of African research capacity, promoting participation of African organizations in the ICT Theme of FP7 (FP7-ICT) and identifying co-operation opportunities in fields of mutual interest. The goal is to increase visibility of mutual RTD potential and network relevant European and African stakeholders.

The Annual IST-Africa Conference provides an opportunity to showcase relevant research capacity.

The goals of the IST-Africa Conference Series are Community Building to facilitate EU-African research cooperation and successful exploitation of research results, to stimulate take-up of RTD results by industry, Small and Medium Sized Businesses and the public sector, to promote knowledge sharing between commercial organizations, government agencies and the research community, to exchange experiences about the current state of eAdoption at a sectoral, national or regional level, support International Cooperation and open up the European Research Area (ERA) to Africa.

The IST-Africa Conference will provide a collegiate setting for presentations and discussions of national and regional developments, issues of concern and good practice models. It will also provide an excellent networking environment for delegates to discuss problems, share knowledge, obtain feedback, and learn more about opportunities to participate in ICT Calls under Framework Programme 7 (FP7).

Mario Reale, GARR, EUMEDGRID-Support Technical Manager, on the 12 May 2011 at 14:00 will present the EUMEDGRID-Support project at the Conference.